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The churches of Venice
The major churches (and synagogues) in Venice, Italy
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» THE VENICE BOOKSHELF
Basilica di San Marco - Let's just come out and say it: there simply is no church in Europe more lavishly decorated, more exquisitely mosaicked, more glittering with gold than San Marco, the cathedral of Venice. Built in the 11th century, this medieval basilica topped by a quintet of Byzantine domes is swathed inside in 40,000 square feet of glittering golden mosaics... 
I Frari - This otherwise plain medieval church is adorned with works by Titian, Giovanni Bellini (that's his 1488 Madonna and Child pictured on the left), and the only work by Donatello in Venice—not to mention that among the grandiose tombs are those of Venetian masters Canova and Titian...
Il Redentore - This geometrically precise church designed by Neoclassical master Andrea Palladio, and pretty much the only reason tourists ever trek out to the isolated island of Giudecca. The interior is done in grand, austere, painstakingly classical Palladian style in keeping with a church commissioned by the city in thanks for being delivered from the great plague of 1575–77, which claimed over a quarter of the population...
San Giorgio Maggiore - Nearly every visitor to Venice snap a picture of it, yet barely a handful ever board the vaporetto to visit this Palladio-designed church on its own little island in the Bacino San Marco, where the Grand Canal empties out in front of Piazza San Marco. This is a shame, since they're missing a Venetian architectural glory decorated with works by Tintoretto, Carpaccio, and Jacopo Bassano—plus spectacular views from the bell tower...
Santa Maria della Salute - This majestic and compact 17th-century baroque jewel decorated with works by Titian, Luca Giordano, and Tintoretto proudly reigns at the tip of Dorsoduro, almost directly across from Piazza San Marco where the Grand Canal empties into the wide Bacino San Marco basin. A grateful Venice commissioned La Salute in 1631 after surviving yet another plague thanks to the divine intervention of the Virgin Mary of Good Health (La Salute)...
San Simeone Piccolo - Not an important church, but it begs to be identified since its green-oxidized copper dome is the first thing nearly every visitor sees—right across the Grand Canal from the train station. Rebuilt in 1718–38 by Giovanni Scalfarotto on the site of a 9th-century church, San Simeone holds the quirky status of being the only church in Venice to celebrate Mass in Latin daily...
Synagogues in the Jewish Ghetto
Museo Ebraico - The museum of Jewish life and history in Venice in the historic Jewish Ghetto ("ghetto" wasn't originally a derogatory term, rather it was the Venetian dialect name for the neighborhood in which the city's Jews lived—though, admittedly, their movements were at times greatly restricted) offers tours into several of the neighborhood's five historic and beautiful synagogues that were built during the Ghetto's heyday in the 16th century. The museum itself comprises a collection of 16th– to 19th-century artifacts...
Tips
- Look into the Chorus Pass for admission to 16 of Venice's churches (including Il Redentore and I Frari, above).
- For more information on religious life in Venice, check out the site of the local diocese: www.patriarcatovenezia.it.
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This material was last updated June 2010. All information was accurate at the time.
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